Equality Project to honor Chattanooga Councilman Anderson

Equality Project to honor Chattanooga Councilman Anderson

September 2nd, 2014by Staff Report in Local - Breaking News

Chris Anderson

Chris Anderson

Photo by
Staff File Photo
/Times Free Press.

The Tennessee Equality Project will honor Chattanooga City Councilman Chris Anderson, AT&T Tennessee and Vanderbilt University as Champions of Equality at Olympus, which is the organization's annual gala event.

This year's gala is scheduled to take place at the Parthenon in Nashville on Sept 19, according to a news release from the Tennessee Equality Project.

"Our 2014 Champions of Equality highlight the importance of workplace protections for LGBT people in Tennessee," said Chris Sanders, executive director of the Tennessee Equality Project, in a news release. "As the courts bring us closer to a decision on marriage equality, we still have much to do to protect our community from discrimination at work. We celebrate Councilman Chris Anderson, AT&T and Vanderbilt for advancing protections that make the workplace truly inclusive."

Anderson is being honored as a first-term council member who introduced partner benefits and a non-discrimination ordinance for city government employees. He is the first openly gay elected official to win a contested race for a legislative body in Tennessee.

AT&T is being honored for its work in policies that include the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities. The company worked to play a significant role in diffusing the "Turn the Gays Away" bill in the 108th General Assembly.

Vanderbilt University is being honored for offering policies that are inclusive of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities. The university has defended these policies against attacks in the General Assembly.

The community is invited to join in the gala. Tickets are available at http://www.olympustep.org.